Vw quote 7 days
Actually turns out its 10 days.
Ten working days! According to Ronald at VW UK.
Had my follow up phonecall this afternoon that was supposed to tell me when my car is shipping to Tyne from Emden.
First thing he tells me (in a slightly congratulatory voice) is that my R has arrived in Emden. I tell him that it arrived there 15 days ago. He tells he that it should take no more than 10 days to get shipped upon arrival. In deadpan mode I inform him that last time I checked, 15 days was 50% longer than 10 days, so it should have shipped 5 days ago. He corrects the 10 days to 10 working days. I ask which days are working days as Wolfsburg has continuous shifts over 7 days a week. He replies every day except a bank holiday. I reply with the fact that Germany has only had 2 bank holidays in the last 15 days (1st and 14th), so it is still 3 days past expectation.
He said that there were a few ships coming over to Tyne from Emden this weekend, so I named them - saying one (City of Sunderland) had already set sail so if my car was on it, I would've received my 5c notification already. I said that the City of Paris was due in on Sunday and if it's not on that then the next ship after is the City of Amsterdam, due next Thursday.
He said he could not find out which ship it is due out on, that he would only know when it had been loaded. He said he'd ring on Tuesday, hopefully to tell me it had shipped.
He was about to go, so I asked him directly about goodwill gestures. He said that they don't decide on these until the car has arrived. I asked whether I could expect one for a car that has been 8 months coming. He squirmed a bit and said he'd discuss it further when the car arrived in the UK. I asked who funded the goodwill gesture, he avoided answering. I clarified that I did not want the dealership to be out of pocket to fund it, they've kept me informed every step of the way, and I got a good level of discount. I said it would be unfair to squeeze their bottom line for something I consider to be Volkswagen's fault.
He said all goodwill gestures have to be discussed between VW UK and the dealership. I reiterated my point about the dealership not being out of pocket for something beyond their control. He said something about VW UK and the dealership all being part of the same family and that's how it works.
Seems then that VW UK always pick the dealership's pocket to fund these goodwill gestures rather than touching their own bottom line.
I missed a call from my salesman about 90 mins later, just before the branch closed - coincidence? Or has Ronald had a word?
